The Frick Collection's St. Francis in the Desert (ca. 1475-78) by Giovanni Bellini ranks among the most important Italian Renaissance paintings in America. We invite the public to listen as a group of invited scholars discuss the painting from the perspective of the Franciscan order, which traces its origins to St. Francis of Assisi. Susannah Rutherglen, former Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow at the Frick, offers an introduction to the painting and an overview of the March 2010 technical study of the work performed by conservators at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Fr.

Painters of the Venetian Renaissance are best known for their monumental altarpieces, narrative and mythological canvases, and intimate works for private devotion. Many of the same masters engaged in the ornamental arts as well, painting panels for integration into beds, chests, musical instruments, and doors. Susannah Rutherglen describes this less familiar genre, traces the fortunes of surviving artifacts, and discusses their themes, styles, and relevance to the history of Italian Renaissance art.